Colorectal Cancer Screening among Korean Americans in Chicago: Does It Matter Whether They had the Screening in Korea or the US?

摘要

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in Korean Americans (KAs) and CRCscreening can detect CRC early and may reduce the incidence of CRC by leading to removal of precancerous polyps.Many KAs in the US leave the country, primarily to travel to Korea, for health screening. The aim of this study wasto (a) assess CRC screening rates, including fecal occult blood test (FOBT), flexible sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopyand (b) explore factors related to these tests among KAs by location of CRC screening. Methods: Descriptive andcorrelational research design with cross-sectional surveys was used with 210 KAs. Socio-demographics (age, gender,years in the US, marital status, education, employment, household income, and proficiency in spoken English),access to health care (health insurance and usual source of health care), and location of CRC screening utilization(Korea, the US, or both Korea and US) were measured and analyzed using descriptive statistics and multinominallogistic regression. Results: Out of 133 KA participants who had had lifetime CRC screening (i.e., had ever had FOBT,flexible sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy), 19% had visited Korea and undergone CRC screening in their lifetimes. Amongsocio-demographic factors and access to health care factors, having a usual source of health care in the US (OR=8.45)was significantly associated with having undergone lifetime CRC screening in the US. Having health insurance in theUS and having had lifetime CRC screening in the US were marginally significant (OR=2.54). Conclusion: Access tohealth care in the US is important for KAs to have CRC screening in the US. As medical tourism has been increasingglobally, the location of CRC screening utilization must be considered in research on cancer screening to determinecorrelates of CRC screening.